Naruto: Conspiracy of One
by mortalone
Summary: They feared and hated him, but all he wanted was to live... manipulative!genjutsu!Naruto
1. Master of Puppets

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Jump Comics.

**Warning:** This story is rated M for violence, language and sexual situations.

**Feedback:** You can review anonymously. Please feel free to give me your input through review or private message. I read all the feedback I get. I only ask that you do not make demands and do not flame.

"Character speech"

'_Character thoughts'_

"**Demon or large summon speech or jutsu name announced"**

'_**Demon or large summon thoughts or jutsu name thought'**_

**AN:** I want to make clear that this story is very AU. In this world, there are cars. That alone should be enough to make it clear how different this is than your usual Naruto story. I've changed some other things as well. Don't like it? Then don't read.

I start off somewhat following the canon plotline mainly so you can get your feet wet in this Naruto world. But, Naruto's first C-rank mission will NOT be to Wave (though he **may** meet Haku and Zabuza later).

XXXXX

**Naruto: Conspiracy of One**

**Chapter 1 – Master of Puppets**

XXXXX

_Come crawling faster._

_Obey your master._

_Your life burns faster._

_Obey your master! Master!_

_Master of Puppets I'm pulling your strings,_

_Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams._

_Blind by me you can't see a thing,_

_Just call my name 'cause I'll hear you scream:_

_Master! Master!_

XXXXX

A muffled thud was the only sound indicating her presence as she landed on a rooftop. Silently she jumped again, going from one rooftop to another in a blur of white, black and red.

She was considered by many to be the sexiest kunoichi in Konoha. Personally, she disagreed; she knew she was far from plain and in fact very curvy in all the right places, but there were others more perfect, others who took the _time_ to be more perfect. The only exception to that she could think of was Mitarashi Anko, who did not take the time, but was far more open about her physique. But unlike Anko, Yuuhi Kurenai did not wear clothing that would get her kicked out of most establishments, nor did she enjoy playing with the hearts and minds – or for that matter the genitalia – of the opposite sex.

And for that, she was nicknamed the "Ice Queen." It was not fair really; she was not at all cold to other people, but she was not flirtatious and did openly express her _dis_interest in many – or rather, _all_ – of the men who sought her body. It was because they sought her body that she had no interest in them.

But _he_ had no interest in her body. To him she was an asset and a valuable friend. She liked to think she was something more, and indeed she _wanted_ to be something more, but she knew that if she asked, he would turn her down. No, if they were seen in public together, then she would lose her image and the trust of her comrades and then no longer would she be valuable as his asset. That did not stop her from wanting at the very least a secret romance, but he would always tell her that for the time being there were more important matters to attend to.

_He_ would write _her_ off. He was probably the only male in Konoha who would; even the least sexually charged men who gladly pick her up if she whored herself out to them. But alas, she knew he did care and for her that was enough for the time being. Someday he would be unable to refuse her and then they could be together. It was not egotistical thinking; it was fact. When she outlived her use as a spy, she would continue to have use as a friend, a sparring partner, and a lover. Until then, she would bide her time. She would not push him, since she knew that someday he would be hers. He _was_ rather young anyway.

The eighteen-year-old jounin came to an abrupt halt. She could not afford to be seen with him, so shinobi occupied buildings were too risky. That was why he chose this place. Who would suspect the rooftop of a civilian office building, one of the only civilian office buildings, in Konoha as a clandestine meeting place between a spy and her master, the man she loved to the brink of obsession?

She walked over to the edge, peering down. There were very few streets within the walls of Konoha. Cars make it hard to track people and in a city where security is of the utmost concern that was not an option. Nevertheless, the road beneath was busy. This was the small commercial district of Konoha and many of these people lived outside the city walls. Despite how late it was, there was guaranteed to be a lot of traffic heading to the gate – every civilian who left the village had to check out. Even though rush hour started at five pm, it would continue until well after ten o'clock. It was little wonder that the roads would be so busy at this hour.

Absent-mindedly, she ran her hands over her clothes, straightening everything out. It would not do to look haggard in front of him and her outfit required a great deal of attention to keep looking nice. After all, her outer layer of clothing was entirely composed of white bandages. She wore it for several reasons; it provided good support and immediate protection of wounds received in battle while at the same time being easy to get out of but surprisingly hard for others to remove. This last point was a key selling issue for many kunoichi since rape was not uncommon. At the very least, she would make it as unpleasant as possible for any man who would even try that. Unless of course that man was Uzumaki Naruto, but to him she would give it willingly; he was her master and his well-being mattered far more to her than the feudal lord's, the Hokage's, or even her own.

Underneath her bandages she wore very little. The bandages themselves provided her surprisingly thick cover, so she wanted as little resistance as possible from what came underneath. Moreover, if she _did_ have to wiggle out of her outer layer, it would mean that would be in _need _of as little weight and resistance as possible, this aside from her need for little resistance when the outer layer was on. Her usual choice was a black fishnet shirt with red cloth in certain places including a sleeve on her right arm (her knife hand), to hide supporting bandages for when she needed a kunai or fists as well as hidden weapons, and her breasts, which her hidden on principle. For bottoms, she typically wore skintight black spandex hot-pants. Usually, but tonight it was a very small black thong.

Just in case tonight was the night…

An involuntary shiver ran up her back, the good kind. The thought that he even _might_ touch her that way aroused her. If anyone she knew were a privy to her thoughts they would think her a slut in training; in reality she was still a virgin at the age of eighteen. For a shinobi, that was old. In the shinobi world, people as young as five – as Hatake Kakashi could attest to – could be shipped off to the front lines, never to return. In a subculture of people who lived fast and died young, sex was prolific even among younger teens. For a kunoichi to make it to eighteen without having at least one lover was simply unheard of.

"You're late."

She spun. It happened like this every time. She would show up "first" and he would wait until she had settled comfortably into her own thoughts then seemingly appear out of nowhere. Of course she knew better. "How long have you been there for?"

A broad grin stretched across his whisker-marked face. "Since five minutes before the designated meeting time. That was half an hour ago."

She bent down and kneeled in front of him. "Forgive me Naruto-kun. There was a jounin meeting."

He sighed. "You're forgiven, and for the last time, you don't need to bow to me. I am no one special, only a man who seeks to live in a world set against him." Mentally he added, _'And I'm glad I've finally got you to call me something other than Naruto-sama. That makes me feel old.'_

She stood again, her eyes above Naruto's in height even though she looked up to him. She was not particularly tall, only a little over five feet and three inches (161 cm), but still taller than him by three inches (153.5 cm).

An uncomfortable silence lingered for a moment as Naruto studied the expression on her face. Likewise, she studied his, though for a different reason. His hair reminded her so distinctly of Namikaze Minato, the man better known as the Yondaime Hokage, despite those memories being from so long ago. She was in her first year at the academy when she met him; he had come to speak briefly to the new students and even took the time to get to know each one on a more personal level.

She knew that Minato was Naruto's father. She was the one who stole that information from the Hokage's library, a surprisingly easy task for a genjutsu mistress of her caliber in the absence of any Hyuuga or Uchiha guards. She had picked that time specifically because of the lack of doujutsu-wielding guards, a well-planned surgical strike that took months of preparation.

She gazed into Naruto's blue eyes that studied her so intently. She felt wrapped up in them, surrounded by his harsh and calculated loving warmth. It always captivated her that his eyes could be so expressive that she could see every layer of his being into the depths of his soul, including all those that stood defensively to guard him and all those that reached out for the love of others all at the same time.

He broke away, his eyes momentarily transfixing themselves on plain looking truck with metal bars in the place of a window on the back doors, a prison truck.

Almost to himself he muttered, "I suppose the jounin meeting had something to do with that."

She followed his gaze to the truck. "Yes, a group of spies were captured and interrogated. They were working for Orochimaru."

Naruto's eyes widened for a second before narrowing again. "I see. So that's his game."

Kurenai sent him an inquisitive glance and asked, "His game?"

"Yes, his game," Naruto confirmed. "Do you really think a shinobi of Orochimaru's caliber would put in place a spy network that could be so easy discovered?"

Her eyes narrowed. "I see… the information came from an anonymous tip pointing towards suspicious actions of an academy teacher, which led to a formal inquiry through which several chuunin including some who do guard duty and a worker in the hospital were discovered."

Naruto's eyebrow closer to her shot up. He met her eyes. A small smile played on his lips as he asked, "A member of the hospital staff?"

"Yes, but I cannot remember her name," she informed him with a hint of regret in her voice – regret that she had failed at remembering a potentially important detail. But she did remember something: "She was one of the nurses who looked after Uchiha Sasuke on the night of the 'Uchiha Massacre.' I remembered her face clearly."

Naruto's expression hardened. "Does the old fool of a Hokage know?"

She shrugged. "Doubtful."

Naruto sighed. "I'm tempted to allow you to inform him, but it may bring additional unwanted attention to you. If he watches you too closely, he will undoubtedly link us together." Of course he realized it would be beneficial for her career, but she was highly regarded enough as a genjutsu prodigy. She would likely even be made a jounin sensei this year for a team composed of his classmates, which was nothing to scoff at considering the number of future heirs to important clans were amongst his peers. "I am surprised that the snake would let such a vital clue come to front while clearing out his trash. Given his ambition of mastering every technique in the world, the Sharingan would prove extremely useful to him. Then again, if he let her out into the open so easily, he may be providing Konoha with a false lead. Regardless, the higher ups most likely feel that they have accomplished something. By giving them this victory, he has assured their complacency in the months to come."

Naruto took a moment to stare out at the night sky. He hated Konoha. The sites were beautiful by day, but he had always been a creature of the night. The lights from the city made it difficult to gaze out at the stars. Again he sighed, longing for nature to reclaim her nighttime sky.

He redirected his attention to Kurenai who patiently waited for him to sort out his thoughts. "Orochimaru is not our concern unless he takes interest in you, me, my other asset or my mother, all of which are scenarios I find unlikely. Speaking of which, what is the news on my mother?"

Kurenai bit her lip. "She will be returning in a week, but she will be forbidden from interacting with you. The Hokage claims it's for your own good."

Naruto snorted. "That senile old fool still thinks I am just a clueless and impressionable young boy." He paused in thought for a minute. "Very well, I'll use my other asset to find out which side my mother will choose. That is all for now. Unfortunately the Hokage won't tell you the team assignment he has planned until the day you are to meet them. That night you will meet me again. I will risk the trip to your apartment. Leave your window open so that I don't have to do anything about the security cameras."

She nodded with a smile, but it was forced. Naruto shot her an appraising look. _'The current genjutsu I have on her will start wearing off soon, but I'm hesitant to reapply it. I can already she that it's festered in her too long. Even with her strength of will she is losing herself to it. Just me standing here is enough to make me able to smell her arousal. Casting it again would interfere with her ability to think clearly. I hope she does not seek retribution after the genjutsu fades or I may have to kill her.'_

Returning her forced smile, he blinked out of her vision. She knew he was still here. This was the power that enthralled her so and she was drawn to it, the power of the Jigokumagen (Hell's Demonic Illusion). Its powers were so great that Naruto, an academy student with below average chakra control, possessed genjutsu abilities that vastly exceeded her own. If not for his lack of development in other areas, he would possibly be stronger than her.

The closest competition that any human possessed to the power of the Jigokumagen was the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and even that paled in comparison. While the Sharingan was undoubtedly easier to utilize (since it came preprogrammed with its techniques), the Jigokumagen could apply genjutsu just by proximity and its strongest techniques were equally difficult to dispel as **Tsukuyomi** (nigh impossible), though Naruto had yet to reach _that_ level. At the top of the list were abilities that would seemingly bend the very fabric of reality, but Naruto had yet to control any of those.

Even so, with little effort Naruto could make it appear as if he was not even there. He could not truly turn invisible – nobody could – but he could disappear from the view of all those in close proximity including doujutsu users. Only if they realized they were in a genjutsu would they have a chance to dispel it, and so long as Naruto suppressed his spiritual aura (comprised of charka and intent), it could only be detected if the user knew what to look for.

The kinds of techniques he could do instinctively were techniques Kurenai had spent years developing and in some cases not even succeeding. She would have been jealous if she were not so entranced by the power of his bloodline.

XXXXX

Naruto sat in the back of the classroom as per usual, his black cloak covering his black shinobi pants and black tee shirt. He always dressed this way, not particularly as an expression of mood; he loved the night and black clothing was not very visible when shrouded in darkness.

In Naruto's experience, those who wore black during the day generally only brought attention to themselves; however, he had genjutsu that could easily counter it…

His genjutsu techniques were different; they were demonic. They were harder to break and harder to detect. They worked by creating a charka field laced with youki. This youki carried with it information data that would overwrite the perceptions of those targeted not by manipulating chakra in the victim's brain to change thought patterns, but by manipulating the sensory data the body collects altogether. The end result is an illusion that is almost impossible to break and seemingly grants the user the ability to bend the very fabric of reality, even for doujutsu users. And unlike normal genjutsu, chakra control was not of necessity; rather than chakra being used to change the message, the chakra carried the message itself. In short, adding more power to the technique would only make it stronger.

These techniques only carried one weakness, one defining way by which the user could even be detected at all. The hardly noticeable shiver of chakra permeating through the air like a gas upon entering the field was all the victim needed to look for; however, only two people aside from Naruto himself knew this. One was Kurenai and the other…

"NARUTO-KUUUUN!!!!!"

A girl wearing a white halter-top over a fishnet undershirt, and a black miniskirt dashed into the seat next to him. She had purple hair tied in a ponytail in back with two bangs framing her face on the sides. The other girls thought ill of her because her clothing showed off the tremendous body she was growing into and because she fawned over Naruto rather than Sasuke.

However, unlike with Sasuke's followers, Ami had been instructed to act this way. Given the number of her classmates that were heirs to clans as well as the surprising influence that academy instructors had over the futures of their students, it went without saying that Naruto needed a spy.

At first Naruto had planned to use one of the heirs themselves, but using a male would generate unwanted trouble since the genjutsu Naruto planned on using would cause the victim to have an unnatural fixation on himself that would make him desirable as a friend, a comrade, a leader, and a lover. The possibility of another man being infatuated with him sexually was enough to thoroughly creep him out. Unfortunately, this only left two possibilities: Yamanaka Ino and Hyuuga Hinata.

Ino's family specialized in mind-based techniques, so using his genjutsu against her was inviting disaster if ever her father showed Ino a trick by using it on her.

Hinata at first seemed to be a good choice. The nature of his genjutsu would be such that it could not be detected even by the eyes of the Hyuuga, but there was a different problem: her mind was too weak. She would break to the genjutsu too easily and her sense of reason would be lost making her useless as an informant and perhaps would even require psychiatric therapy. No, the damage to her mind from her own beliefs about her short-comings, damage that was compounded by the treatment her own clan gave her, was more than enough; he refused to add more.

Naruto was forced to pursue the rest of the class roster for possible candidates. Only two talents stood out that had a strong enough mind to handle the technique: Haruno Sakura and Mitarashi Ami, bitter rivals who hated each other.

Sakura came from a household that had some money, but not a lot. Her dad had a low-end sports car and a decent sized condo. Despite some insecurity, she had a genuine desire to succeed as evidenced by the fact that she broke apart her relationship with Ino, her past crutch, to chase after Sasuke and yet despite being perhaps the most adamant of all Sasuke followers, she performed fairly well in school, even exceeding Sasuke, the class prodigy, in tests of book smarts. The problems Naruto foresaw were the level of obsess she had for her crush, the possibility of her parents taking action if her crush were to be Naruto, and the fact that she would likely renew her friendship with Ino, who would have a chance of extracting secrets about Naruto.

Ami was Sakura's sworn enemy, a girl who bullied Sakura when they were little. Ami was strong willed and aggressive. Physically she was stronger, but at the time not cute at all. Like Naruto she was an orphan and her friends followed her because she was stronger physically and mentally than them. This meant that there was no one to interfere except possibly for Ami's aunt, who was a special jounin, but Ami's aunt was a student of Orochimaru and more than a bit psychotic, so Ami almost never interacted with her. While this boded well, Naruto, an orphan himself, did not truly wish to mess with the mind of someone who had nobody to fall back on.

Ultimately, it came down to a matter of doing what was strategically best versus doing what his conscience could live with. Needless to say, he chose what was strategically best and was not at all disappointed in the results. Ami was the strongest kunoichi in the class physically and not far behind the other top kunoichi mentally. Ami was determined to make a name as a ninja whereas other girls would join the class in the hopes of catching the eyes of a good male prospect, not even intending to become gennin themselves. Ami had blossomed into a beautiful girl while Sakura was rather flat chested. Furthermore, Sakura's crush on Sasuke only strengthened despite his harsh rebukes.

But unfortunately, all good plans have their flaws. Naruto sighed as Ami grabbed his hand and placed it on her inner thigh.

Fortunately, it was at this moment that the sensei for the class, a man named Umino Iruka, strode into the room; the only two people who knew what Ami had just done were Naruto and Ami herself. Wordlessly, he emitted a chakra field and constructed a genjutsu that would prevent the eyes from focusing on him, a weaker version of his "invisibility" trick that he used in lieu of having a genjutsu that would manipulate the thoughts of others as if to say "nothing to see here."

Naruto noticed Iruka squint as his eyes passed over Naruto; the man was looking for him. Subtly, Naruto decided to cast a second genjutsu that made Kiba appear to be Naruto himself. Naruto watched in amusement as Iruka's eyes latched onto Kiba and his lips curled into a sneer.

Iruka strode over to his desk and tossed some books onto it. From his vantage point, Naruto saw that these were an assortment of history books, no doubt spreading propaganda to Konoha's youth about how wonderful a village Konoha is and how evil Iwa was and how evil Kyuubi was – though Naruto was unable to disagree with that one – and how Konoha has much stronger bonds with its allies than other countries.

Naruto snorted. _'History is always written by the winners, isn't it?'_ He allowed his head to lie down on his desk. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Ami's coy smile not so subtly directed at him. _'Her grip is weakening. When it rains, it pours – I have two assets to worry about, but Kurenai seems more stable, just a bit old to be caught in those circumstances; her peers are all "getting some" when she is not. I will have to release Ami sooner, probably before mother gets back into town. I wonder which side she will choose…'_

The rest of the day passed normally with Iruka believing Kiba to be Naruto, throwing Kiba out of the classroom and then attempting to engage the class in a boring lecture that made the class wonder, not for the first time, if the shinobi life really was so dull. Not once all day did Iruka notice the real Naruto sleeping in the back of the classroom.

XXXXX

_**AN:**_ I don't usually do lyrics with any of my work, but it was just so fitting.

The gate guards turned traitor were _nameless chuunin_, **not** Izumo and Kotetsu.

Naruto's character is very different in abilities, personality and his relationships with others. There are also guns, but I will restrict them to muskets (single shot), which experienced shinobi will be able to deal with without too much trouble (for reasons to be explained). For cars, I'll have to use real world makes since it will make them far easier to describe, and while I know a fair amount, I'm not really a good go-to-guy for car info. So really, this will come down to you: _what era do you want the cars to come from?_ Either modern high performance vehicles or old-fashioned muscle cars!

Canon Naruto would be 147.5 cm at this point, but I made him 153.5 cm, just a hair taller than canon Sasuke who would be 153.2 cm. I thought it was fitting since he would be dieting more healthily.

The second main girl interacting with Naruto, Ami, is actually a canon girl. Yes, that Ami, the ugly one with the purple hair who bullied Sakura in that flashback. She was SIX – just because she was ugly _then_ does NOT mean she is ugly _now_. I will describe her as developing physically a lot like her auntie Anko. Besides, if you think a six-year-old girl is "hot," then you need to be **locked up**.

Finally, here we shall see two _unusual_ demonic powers granted to Naruto. Using these powers, we will see a **manipulative!Naruto**.

And by the way, I changed Kurenai's age from canon. Yes, canon Kurenai is older than 18 so don't tell me "you're wrong, blah blah blah" since I already said I know. Besides… AU suckas!

Next chapter is graduation and either at the end of next chapter or some point in chapter 3, Naruto's mom will be introduced (oh snap!) and you'll find out why she wasn't there to mother Naruto.

Also, don't be confused; **Naruto is manipulative, but not evil**. He doesn't have any underhanded motives – he only desires to protect himself – and he DOES care about his assets.

I know someone will suggest that I add Anko. Sorry, but it can't work. She'd see Naruto as being too much like her former sensei, manipulating others for his own devices. She would not be a privy to that. _Not after Orochimaru. Not even to kill Orochimaru…_

_Now the big questions…_

1.) What era do you want the cars to be from? If they are older, I'll have to do a bit of research, but it gives me an excuse to research muscle cars when I'm bored. On the other hand, I know a fair bit modern cars, though I'm not big on street racing and the "rice rockets" (no offense meant to Asian people… like half of my friends are Asian) that people love to trick out. I'd probably stick more with European makes as well as some American sports cars (the Corvette and the Mustang are must haves regardless of whether I stay modern or go old school).

If I use muscle cars, you can be sure to see the Dodge Charger that Vin Diesel drove in the move "The Fast and the Furious" (it's the black car with that awesome super charger on the hood). I might include it even if I go modern anyway.

2.) What do you want Ami's relationship to Naruto to be? Right now, she's super infatuated with him (as is Kurenai) since she's under a genjutsu that makes her perceive Naruto as her ultimate dream man. However, in time she will be a loyal follower on her own free will. Will she strive to be like a sister, or will she strive to be a lover (and get it)? Her choice will have no effect on Naruto's relationship with Kurenai. **This is not a vote.** I want your reasons for seeing a pairing or not seeing one, even if the reason is "because I do/don't want to see it." Right now, the argument leads in favor of a sisterly relationship.


	2. Announcement

**ANNOUNCEMENT**

This story is not dead. No, not at all. I want to announce that chapter one will get rewritten SLIGHTLY because I want to incorporate a new element into this story involving Naruto's family. Namely, I'm going to give him a blood sister. A twin sister. This involves some plot changes, but nothing too huge. It's just that… I don't want to have to write a separate story too similar to this one.

I'm sorry to all those who thought this was a new chapter. I also want to tell everyone that I have a new part of my author's page dedicated to updates about NotS since so many people are worried, "OMG, you haven't updated, is it abandoned?!?!" Nope, not at all.

I've had a lot of ideas, but not enough time or motivation to write them down properly. Rest assured that I will continue writing and that I plan to finish everything I've published, including Dark God (after extensive rewriting of old ideas). Part of my problem has been personal, part of it is trying to get passed certain barriers in my plots and things I don't entirely like, and part of it is that this manga is going nowhere way too fast. I will probably stop reading the manga. I will still publish stories.

"What the fuck," you ask? Rinnegan? Hermit mode? Get the fuck out. Kishimoto has been progressively making this story dumber and dumber because he just realized how badly overpowered he made Sasuke's Sharingan and so in order to make people actually able to stand up to Sasuke for ten seconds, he has to give everyone else over-hyped, ridiculous abilities to compensate. Even Kage Bunshin. I highly doubt that he ever planned on making Naruto gain the memories of his clones. Then, "Whoops, for Naruto to catch Sasuke, he's going to need to attain 100 years of training in a matter of months." Fucking asshole. Kishimoto, you're destroying this series. Hard work over comes genius? Not according to you. Love over comes hate? Not according to you.

Oh, and if you guys want a plothole? Chapter 19, page 8 or page 9 depending on where you downloaded from, panel 3. That object on the counter is most definitely a shotgun. GET THE FUCK OUT!

Kishimoto's younger twin brother Seishi has the right idea in his work **666 Satan**. But if you want manga/anime even better than that, check out **Elfen Lied**. If you can stand the angst, that is quite possibly the best anime you will ever see. Well, **Ghost in the Shell** is also truly amazing, but **Elfen Lied** is completely different (less intellectual, more emotional). The Lucy/Kouta romance is just plain brilliant.

/me inhales deeply and counts to 10

As you can see, I'm not happy with this manga. Yet, the world Naruto is set in has so god damned much potential. And part 1… Part 1 of this story was amazing! Why did Kishimoto have to fall so far?

That said I don't need fans to ride me in reviews in order to "keep me updated." For one thing, I already know everything through the current chapter. Yes, that includes who Naruto's parents are. For another thing, I talk frequently with other authors. I talk almost DAILY over AIM with the authors LD 1449, GrimMalice and Trexek. I could even tell you how "Lost Soul" ends, but I'm not going to because I'm not the asshole type who gets off on spoiling things for others. I will tell you that the ending is very powerful and deep and that it will be well and truly worth it. I can also tell you that Trexek is going bonkers (partly from joy, mostly from confusion) that "Naruto the Barbarian" has been so much better received than his other two stories. I can also tell you that the entire fic was conceived in a span of about 10 seconds during which I was telling him about a plot idea I had that sparked an idea of his own. I only got around to telling him 3 sentences.

That said, if you wish to talk about canon, PM ME. I greatly enjoy discussing it. I can also talk about fic ideas I've had. I'm very hush, hush on my profile because I'm worried about idea theft. If you PM me and I start telling you things and then you steal from me, I'll know you stole and can prove it, so I'm not so afraid to give information to those who PM me. But, I'll still try not to spoil too much. You guys should know that I love getting PM's, though I dislike when I give long reviews that get no reply. I also love getting feedback about future ideas, hint, hint.

By the way… a message to all authors: **PLEASE STOP ABANDONING STORIES!** What's worse is when you just delete them, never to be seen again. If you seriously are done with fanfiction, try to find someone to take over. However, if you don't think you can commit to writing 100k+ words to begin with, then don't even try writing an epic since it will obviously be doomed to failure.

Sorry again to those who thought this was a chapter. Chapter 2 actually isn't started and will have to get reworked anyway to incorporate this new idea. Chapter 4 of Path isn't yet started because nothing satisfies me. I have whole conversations planned out come chuunin exams and such, but getting up to that point is proving to be an issue. Chapter 7 for NotS is at 14k words (including the AN so far, but it's mostly story… I promise) and not quite finished. I might release a dark work soon. I've been feeling angsty lately and writing dark works is oddly therapeutic. Plus, there just aren't enough good dark works out there, and often when I start one that looks promising, it just has to go and become yaoi. Ugh. Does a dark!Naruto necessarily have to rape other men up the ass? And no, it's even worse if he's the one getting _his_ ass violated. Can we just ban anal sex period?

Feel free to review this or PM me a response. I'm thinking that I will insert a prologue that will give back story that would be the new first chapter while chapter one gets moved to the second chapter position, and will be placed over this author's note, so you wouldn't be able to review the prologue properly anyway.

Also… **IMPORTANT ABOUT THE CARS**… I'm worried based on the reviews that people might be thinking that "muscle cars" means "sports cars." It does not. Muscle cars are built for power, not performance. If you want an example, google or wiki the 1970's era Pontiac GTO. Also, google or wiki the Dodge Charger, preferably 1971 (you'll see Vin Diesel's black charger from Fast and the Furious). Those are muscle cars. I don't consider them very sleek, but maybe you guys do (I see that word used a lot in reviews).

Regardless, you will see Vette's and Ferrari's. Well, a Ferrari is an always has been a "super car," rather than "just" a sport's car. Vette's were around during the muscle car era and are around today… it's just a matter of Stingray vs Z06. The choice is yours.

Ami still could go either way. For those who reviewed, remember that she's _**NOT**_ an OC. Just… we know almost nothing about her so she is essentially an OC. That is to say, I can shape her personality to my liking. However, you already know what she looks like.

I think you guys will like the new change. It may lean Ami towards a girlfriend role since he already has a sister, but I'm not set on that. I really want to focus on the Naru/Kurenai relationship, so we'll see.


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